Page 48 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

DRAINS
A note here about “drains” in South Lincolnshire. Accepting that the readership for this
story will be World Wide, I should explain that South Lincolnshire is something like Holland
(The Netherlands), being flat, wet and for the large part, below the level of the sea
alongside.
Experienced canal engineers from Holland were employed by principal landowners in the
th
18 Century to drain the “wetlands”, hence these “drains”.
With the introduction of “enclosures” by these landowners, they gained access to more
usable agricultural property.
The whole of the south of the County is criss crossed by “drains” of various sizes. Many of
them are interconnect and eventually the water drained from the huge area of agricultural
land is pumped out over the sea walls into the sea.
Some of the larger drains are the size of rivers but do not flow as such, as they are all of
the same level.

BACK TO THE STORY
The New Town was not a financial success, even though the infrastructure was so good
that most of the town still exists. There was a rope works, candle works and brickworks.
There are still rows of workers cottages bordering
the long straight road that was eventually
constructed to Boston to the South and
Horncastle to the North. (picture left)

There is also a crescent of London Style Town
houses in the centre of the village opposite the
village green and Town Hall. In fact the village has
changed very little over the years. (below)

The town eventually had a station and
railway service that connected to
Lincoln via Woodhall Spa and
Skegness on the coast, until closed by
Dr. Beeching.
A final piece of notable history came
from the time when we were restoring
the hall.

We found that the “green” in the centre
of the village still belongs to the Duchy
of Lancaster. The Duke of Lancaster
today is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
the Second.

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